Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hearing assistance system comprising a hearing assistance device to be worn at one of a user's ears and which is adapted for wireless data exchange with an external device.
Description of Related Art
Hearing assistance devices, such as hearing aids, may be designed for wireless connectivity to devices like wireless microphones, mobile phones, and other consumer electronic devices, such as TV sets, in order to be able to communicate with such devices. To this end, different communication interfaces and protocols may be used, thereby significantly increasing complexity of the hearing assistance device. In such a wireless system the hearing assistance device has to look constantly for devices to connect to; however, this “scanning” process imposes a significant burden both in terms of power consumption and system load.
In particular, hearing aids are extremely miniaturized, power constrained devices with limited computing resources. Thus, the scanning process, in particular for a large number of communication devices, poses significant problems: in an unconnected state, the hearing aid has to constantly scan for devices at a relatively high scan rate in order to allow a rapid communication setup; in a connected state (in which the hearing aid is paired to a communication device, for example, in order to receive an audio stream) other relevant devices may appear in the environment of the hearing aid, so that also in this case the hearing aid has to constantly scan at a high rate in order to allow rapid connection to a device offering an alternative audio source.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,155,359 B2 relates to a plurality of hearing aids, wherein a remote control of one of the hearing aids is used as a base station for enabling wireless communication between the hearing aids. Such communication network may be expanded by further remote controls acting as base/relay stations which log on to each other and control the data transfer; the resulting network of base stations continuously searches for the best transmission route via all the logged-on base stations.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,751,578 B2 relates to a hearing aid having a remote control which functions as an intermediary between a low-rated network for domestic appliances in order to enable the hearing aid to participate fully in the network; the remote control may be used not only to call up the network, but also to control it. The hearing aid may form part of a binaural system comprising a second hearing aid at the other ear which is wirelessly connected to the first hearing aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,666,314 B2 relates to a wireless audio signal transmission system, such as from a TV set to a hearing aid, wherein the audio signal is transmitted as a BLUETOOTH® signal to a relay station which converts the BLUETOOTH® signal into a signal for inductive transmission to the hearing aid. The relay station may be integrated into a remote control of the hearing aid or a remote control of the TV set.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,488,822 B2 relates to a hearing assistance system comprising a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) transmitter connected in a wired or wireless manner to audio sources, such as a microphone, a TV set or a mobile phone, in order to transmit audio signals via a DECT link to a plurality of DECT receivers which may form part of a binaural hearing aid system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,891 B2 relates to a communication system comprising a plurality of portable communication devices, wherein Bluetooth protocols are used to broadcast a series of inquiry messages from a first communication device to a second communication device; for the delivery of additional data the first communication device may add to each inquiry message prior to transmission an additional data field carrying broadcast data.